Blood found in suspect's home does not appear to match Sade Robinson, amended complaint says
A Wisconsin Crime Lab DNA analysis found no support for including the mutilated 19-year-old's DNA in blood or swabs collected from Maxwell Anderson's home, according to an amended criminal complaint.
Blood evidence recovered from the home of Maxwell Anderson, the man charged with killing and mutilating 19-year-old college student Sade Robinson, does not appear to match Robinson's DNA, according to an amended criminal complaint reported by CNN on April 22, 2024. A preliminary DNA analysis performed by the Wisconsin Crime Lab "supports the conclusion that there is no support for inclusion of Robinson's DNA in any of the blood or swabs tested," the complaint said, per CNN.
Anderson's attorney, Tony Cotton, told CNN in an email that the blood evidence "does not appear to belong to Sade." ABC17News, citing CNN's reporting, additionally noted that Anderson, 33, pleaded not guilty to all charges and waived his right to a preliminary hearing.
What the amended complaint does not establish, per the coverage reviewed, is whose DNA the blood does belong to, or what significance investigators attach to its presence in Anderson's home. Neither source fetched addressed that question.
The timeline
Robinson, a Milwaukee Area Technical College student originally from Mississippi who was pursuing a criminal justice career, was reported missing on April 2 after she failed to show up for work following a first date with Anderson. Her car was found on fire the day after the date, and her remains were later discovered on a beach and near where the car was found, according to the coverage.
The charges
Anderson has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, and arson of property other than a building in connection with Robinson's death, per CNN's reporting.
What it signals
An amended complaint walking back an evidentiary link between the crime scene and the suspect's home is a notable development in an active prosecution — it narrows, rather than strengthens, one strand of physical evidence prosecutors initially cited, even as the underlying homicide, mutilation and arson charges against Anderson stood. The reporting reviewed here does not indicate whether prosecutors offered an alternate theory for the blood's presence.
US In News compiled this archived account from contemporaneous coverage by CNN and ABC17News. It restores a story originally published on this site in April 2024; figures are as reported at the time.